Window-cleaner



M. LOMANO. wmnow CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. l0, 1920. 1,370,463. Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

Swan/Moz MAC/2 Q6] L Umano @vH/wao@ MICHAEL LOMANO, OF COLUMBUS., OHIO.

'WINDOW-CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mahl, 1921.

Application filed January 10, 1920. Serial No. 350,699.

To all whom it may concer/1t.'

Be it known that I, MICHAEL LoMANo, a citizen of the United States,residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State ot' ()hio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Window-Cleaners,ot' which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates broadly to an improved window cleaner, and hasJfor its principal object to provide means of this character wherebyboth sides of a transparent panel may be wiped free from moisture, frostor other extraneous matter which has a tendency to obstruct visionthrough the panel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cleaner of this naturewherein is em-v bodied an improved mounting Jfor effecting the pivotalsupport of the wiping members of the apparatus, in order that said armsmay under certain conditions be rotated iny unison, and said mountingincluding means whereby said members are normally urged into 'positiveengagement with the sides of a transparent panel.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a wipingmember for the aforesaid pqurpose, wherein said member is constructed soas toembody a plurality ot' pliable prongs or scraper fingers which arepositioned so as to be relatively independent of each other, in orderthat the spring pressure exercised by said mounting on said member willhave a tendency to maintain all of the fingers in engagement with theside of a panel, and to thereby insure close and positive engagementbetween said fingers and said panel surface throughout the entire lengthof the wiping member and in a manner substantially independent of theparallelism between the latter and the surface over which it operates.

lVith these and other objects in view, as will appear as the descriptionproceeds, the inventionaccordingly consists in the novel features ofconstruction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts,hereinafter to be fully described and to have the scope thereof'pointedout in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken through a Window sash andits associated frame, and illustrating the application of the improvedwindow cleaning member, comprising the present invention therewith.

Fig. 2 is a side view of one of the wiping members of the cleaner, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the detailsI of construction of thepreferred form of the invention, the numeral 1 designates the improvedwindow cleaning structure in its entirety. This structure is adapted tobe used in conjunction with any suitable form of a transparent panel,for example as an auto-4 mobile windshield, or the vision window beforethe operator of a public carrier. However, for purposes of descriptionand illustration, the structure 1 has been disclosed as being utilizedin connection with the stationary frame 2 of a window sash 3, the frame2 being provided with grooves in which the side rails of the sash areadapted to be received for sliding movement in the ordinary manner. Inthis instance the frame 2 is provided at any suitable point contiguousto the sash 3 with a transverse opening 4, which is open at one end andhas its opposite end substantially closed by means of a plate 5. Thecleaning structure as a whole is adapted tobe journaled for oscillationwithin the opening 4, and to accomplish this end saidstructure isprovided with a pair of complemental wiping members 6 and 7 Thesemembers may be formed from suitably bent wire, and the member 6 isconstructed to embody a transversely extending portion S, which projectsentirely through and is journaled within the opening 4. Loosely mountedupon the journaling portion 8 of the wiping member 6 is a sleeve 9 whichforms a part of the member 7 and acts as a pivotal mounting for saidlatter member. One end of the sleeve 9 is formed with a slot 10 which isadapted to receive a transverse stud 11 rigidly carried by the portion8. Manifestly, when the stud 11 is positioned within the slot 10 themembers 6 and 7 will be coupled together so as to be capable of rotatingin unison.

Normally, the connected relationship between the sleeve 9 andthe-'portion 8 is maintained by means of a coil spring 12 which ispositioned so as to pass'around the projecting end of the portion 8, andthe outer end ot the spring rests upon an adjustable nut 13, which iscarried by the threaded end 14 of the portion 8. The other end of thespring presses upon the sleeve 9 and thereby forces the wiping member 7into firm contact with one side of the trans arent panel. Then, sincethe other end o .the spring presses against the nut 13 it follows thatthe wiping member 6 on the opposite side of the panel will also bepressed into engagement with that side of the transparent panel of thesash 4. Thus the spring 12 serves in the dual capacity; i. e., inmaintaining the wiping members in firm frictional contact with theopposite sides of a transparent panel and in also normall retaining thestud 11 within the slot 10 so t at the rotation of said wiping membersin unison may be normally secured. To revolve the cleaning structure asa whole, the inner projecting end of the portion 8 may'be provided witha handle 15 by the grasping of which said members 6 and 7 may besuitably revolved so as to bring their cleaning surfaces into engagementwith the transparent panel over an extended distance. By adjusting thenut 13 the tension of the spring 12 may be varied so as to insure thedesired engagement between the members 6 and 7 and the transparentpanel.

When the services of the structure 1 are no longer desired, or forpurposes of facilitating the raising and lowering of the sash 3, saidmembers 6 and 7 may be adjusted to assume such inactive positions aswill render the sash free for independent movement. This is accomplishedby providing the portion 8 of the member 6l with an offset pin 16 whichnormally lies within the opening 4. However, by forcing the portion 8outwardly against the tension of the spring, the pin 16 may be passedthrough afrelatively small opening 17 provided in the plate 5. Then bypartially rotating the portion 8, said pin will be causedv to engagewith the outer face of the plate 5 so as to prevent inward movement onthe part of the wiping member 6. This action effectively results infreeing the member 6 from active contact with the outer surface of thewindow sash. The member 7 may then be suitably released by actuating thenut 18 so that the tension on the spring 12 maybe released, thuspermitting the member 7 to be moved inwardly away from the sash and topermit the same to drop to any suitable inactive position. Means havethus been provided for conveniently disassociating the members 6 and 7with a transparent panel in order that the latter may be raised orlowered or removed from its frame.

The journaling' portion 8 and the sleeve 9 terminate in angularly bentarms 19'and 20 which in turn end in laterally and inwardly bent arms 21.The latter then terminate in horizontally extending portions 22 whichlie parallel with the side faces of the sash 3. Adapted to be carried byeach of the portions 22 is a rubber wiping element 23, which is soformed as to be capable of contacting and rubbing the side faces of thetransparent panel of the sash 3, whereby moisture or other visionobscuring matter which may collect upon said panel ma)Y be convenientlyand quickly removed by the mere actuation of the handle 15. It has beenfound, however, that the elements 23 are not altogether satisfactoryunder conditions which cause frost to collect upon the window surfaces.In this event it is obvious that the rubber elements 23 will have littleor no effect in removing such accumulations, and therefore, the presentinvention comprehends for each of the members 6 and 7 a scraperstructure 24 of peculiar formation. In its preferred form this scraperstructure is preferably formed from pliable sheet metal, and incross-section is constructed so as to receive the portion 22. Also, saidlscraper structure will embody oppositely disposed resilient faces 25which press upon the wiping element 23 and therefore have a tendency tosupport and maintain the latter in its operative position. The faces 25terminate in a plurality of independent fingers 26, which are of apliable nature and terminate evenly with the outer edge of the element23 so as to engage with the panel of the sash 3. The fingers terminatein tapering portions 26 which act somewhat in the manner of a chisel andthereby 'serve to effectively loosen accumulated frost from apane ofglass. As above stated the ngers are relatively independent, andtherefore if true parallelism between the members 6 and 7 and the sash 3does not obtain, this technical error will be overcome by the action ofthe spring 12 and the pliable formation of said fingers. Thus if a fiatmetallic strip were employed in lieu ofy the fingers it would bemanifest that ifthe members 6 and 7 were not in a state of trueparallelism with the sash 3 such a metallic strip would be so positionedthat only its part nearest to the sash would engage the latter, the partfarther away from the sash would have no wiping action upon the latterat all. However, by the presence of said fingers and owing to theirpliable formation such a technical error will be preclu'ded and all ofthe fingers will thereby be in engagement with said sash so as to securethe most effective and efficient operation. Preferably. the faces 25 areformed in pairs so that the fingers on the lower pair will be positionedbetween the spaces formed between the fingers of the upper pair. Thisstaggered arrangement of the fingers will cause the wiping members toengage with the transparent panel over their full length and willeliminate scoring.

F rom the foregoing description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing it will be seen that there is provided an elicientstructure for erforming the objects of the invention. he window cleaneritself is of comparatively simple construction, and can be quickl andreadily applied to Window sashes anA transparent panels generally. Themounting for the structure is of such character as to insure closeengagement between the wiping members and the transparent panel, andpermits said members to be rotated together. Also, by the provision ofthe scraper structure the device is rendered positive in all manner ofweather conditions so that a clear vision through a transparent panelmay be readily obtained,

I claim:

1. In a window cleaner, a wiping member, comprising an elongated iexiblestrip of moisture removing material, and a scraper structure cooperativewith said strip, said structure including a plurality of resilientfingers having tapered extremlties and capable of relatively independentmovement.

2. In a Window cleaner, a wiping member comprising an elongated body, aflexible moisturevremoving strip carried by and extending parallel Withsaid body, and a pluralit of pliable metallic scraper fingers locatedlon opposite sides of said strip, said fingers terminating in relativelytapered extremities which are located in staggered re lationship. l

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

MICHAEL LOMANO.

